It’s a gender revolution and gun ownership is no longer just a man’s world

Sunday

Jan 20, 2013 at 3:15 AM

By Andrea Bulfinchabulfinch@fosters.com

DOVER- Forget diamonds ... is gun now a girl’s best friend?

While a nationwide conversation about guns, gun violence and gun control is taking place bringing Second Amendment rights into the spotlight, a “gender revolution” has taken place with an increased number of women choosing to lock and load.

With no requirement in New Hampshire to register a gun, there’s no sure way to discern exactly how many firearms are under the ownership of a woman. But an uptick in female shoppers at local gun retailers, and in applications for concealed weapons permits shows an increased interest from women to be armed.

Locally, numbers are growing as well with personal protection at the top of the list as to why women are opting to bear arms.

Entering his 18th year at the Durham Police Department, Chief David Kurz said he’s recently received two calls from women inquiring about what type of gun they should purchase and how to go about doing so. He said that was the first time he’d ever taken that type of inquiry.

“Chicks with guns,” an article about a book by the same name on the topic of female gun owners was published in Nov. 2011 on NBCnews.com. The article reported “an estimated 15 million to 20 million women in the United States own their own firearms.”

A little more than a year later that trend is proving true locally.

Numerous websites, blogs, and forums such as Heels and Handguns, Women Against Gun Control, Second Amendment Sisters and hundreds of other virtual groups have brought women from across the country together, sharing their knowledge and support of what some are calling a woman’s “real right to choose.”

In Lee, Police Chief Chet Murch said about 25 percent of women in the town have pistols.

“We have seen a large rush in pistol permits,” he said. And while there’s been an increase in female applicants, he said he’s also noticed that husbands and wives seem to be filling out the permits together.

In Durham, 25 out of the last 159 concealed weapons permits issued in town have been to women, or about 14 percent, according to Kurz.

In Dover, a string of recent forced-entry home break-ins have also been attributed to some people’s reasoning behind enrolling in courses at local sportsmans clubs. At those clubs they learn about gun safety and proper handling, according to Chair of Safety and Education at Major Waldron’s Sportsmen’s Association, Tom McDonough, in Barrington.

“I field all of the requests and phone calls for these classes. The one common thread we hear is that they are there because they either have a gun in the house or are in the process of purchasing one and want to learn how to use it,” he said via email to Foster’s.

“I have the opportunity to talk to many of these people on the phone to tell them about the classes in further detail and make sure it is the right decision for them in their lives. Lately, I find myself talking to more women and over 90% are entering into this training having little if any gun handling experience,” he said.

Dover Police Chief Anthony Colarusso said applications for permits have increased dramatically over the last few years in the city and that there’s been even more of an increased interest since the Newtown, Conn. shootings in December and subsequent talk of gun control.

“I think for the past several years I’ve noticed more and more women getting permits,” he said.

He mentioned some might be worried about gun control laws and are aiming to purchase a firearm before those laws are passed. Kurz echoed that thought saying some women may think to themselves that “if we’re going to get one, we should get one now.”

Colarusso said regardless of the gender behind a gun purchase, the number one thing he promotes is taking a training course and understanding the weapon, laws, and how the use of force applies.

The idea of “equal responsibility” is something John Edgar, salesperson at Renaissance Guns, said plays a part in women choosing to be armed rather than relying on the protection of their male counterparts.

Shipman said he and the sales people at the store, like Edgar, take time asking their customers to really think through what they’re doing and why they’re buying a firearm in the first place.

“We push the safety aspect first,” he said, regardless of whether it’s a man or woman making the purchase.

For most, Shipman said, including the increased number of women who have sought to purchase a gun at his shop recently, personal protection is the main reason behind being armed.

But can you prepare to use deadly force? Shipman said an important, though often overlooked aspect of gun safety and responsible ownership is the psychological component of actually pulling the trigger on a lethal weapon.

“You don’t know until you’re in that situation,” he said, of what one’s instincts and reactions would be.

Other non-lethal options can be useful, he said, and should be considered before choosing a firearm as a means of self-defense.

“There are other things you should think about before buying a firearm,” he said, adding that the mindset of not wanting to be a victim isn’t always enough to conclude that gun ownership is the right decision.

“There’s a lot you can do to not be a victim,” he said.

Still, the trend of women owning guns and being confident in using them is apparent at local ranges. Courses traditionally taken mostly by men are now about equally split. Some shooting ranges offer NRA courses designed specifically for women as well, such as those offered at MWSA.

The type of guns women are purchasing depends on a few things: their budget, their need for a firearm, and for some, size, particularly since the intent is to carry the weapon concealed.

On www.firearmssite.com, a website dedicated to information about all things gun-related, the answers to what type of firearm a woman should purchase is simple: “The same one that is best for a man,” the site reads, continuing that, “any woman can easily learn to shoot any handgun effectively. Of course, practice is the key for both men and women.”

McDonough, said he’s noticed more and more women shooters taking the “NRA Basic Handgun for Women” course, which he said has had his phone “ringing off the hook” in recent weeks.

Even January’s Basic Handgun class, not necessarily specific to women shooters, has been about 50/50, McDonough said with a roughly equal number of male and female participants.

He said the shift is a positive one and that women are “exercising their 2nd Amendment Right,” as well as what he said is the second “R” in that right: “responsibility.”

Of the last 24 participants in the women’s course, McDonough said 22 answered with personal protection as their reason for owning a gun.

The demand for classes, he said, is the most ever seen there and MWSA is currently looking at adding three to four additional classes to their calendar to get people properly trained.

Of the more than 40 students on the request list for the basic pistol course, over half of them are women, he reported.

“The number of women inquiring about and taking these classes has just increased dramatically,” he said.

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